Help with 5.1 Speakers and AV receiver

[admin_exported]

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a pair of 5.1 surround speakers to go with my 32" 1080p TV but I have no knowledge in this domain.

At start I was thinking to buy a pair of Logitech Z506 and hook them up to the TV, but while browsing for them I saw a pair of Pioneer S-HS100 at £110 and they look ok but from what I can tell they need an AV receiver or an amplifier to work with the TV.

So I'm wondering would the sound quality be much better or does it just make it easier to connect multiple audio/video inputs? If so what AV receiver should I buy?

I'm not really looking to spend much on this setup, say around £150 for the speakers (with wall mounting support) and for the AV receiver I really don't know.

Thank you!

 

[The_Lhc]

Hello,

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a pair of 5.1 surround speakers to go with my 32" 1080p TV but I have no knowledge in this domain.

I don't think you quite understand what you're after, a set of 5.1 surround speakers consists of 6 individual speakers, not a pair, the 5.1 refers to 5 main speakers and 1 subwoofer. With just two speakers you won't get surround, just stereo.

[/quote]At start I was thinking to buy a pair of Logitech Z506 and hook them up to the TV, but while browsing for them I saw a pair of Pioneer S-HS100 at £110 and they look ok but from what I can tell they need an AV receiver or an amplifier to work with the TV.[/quote]

Yes the Pioneer ones would, however just a pair would sound a little weak as they're designed to work in conjuction with the matching subwoofer and being style speakers don't go very low down into the bass region by themselves.

So I'm wondering would the sound quality be much better or does it just make it easier to connect multiple audio/video inputs?

Yes to both questions.

If so what AV receiver should I buy?

I'm not really looking to spend much on this setup, say around £150 for the speakers (with wall mounting support) and for the AV receiver I really don't know.

You need to decide on that last point really, otherwise it'll be difficult to suggest anything sensible. For £150 for speakers plus a receiver you might be better off buying an all-in-one solution, that way you get a blu-ray player thrown in as well (assuming you haven't got one already).

 

[professorhat]

Yes - the main question is what you're looking to connect into this new system. If it's just your TV, 5.1 probably isn't worth it since virtually all TV programmes are broadcast in stereo (though a few are now showing up on the Freeview HD channels).

If on the other hand you're looking to connect an existing Blu-ray or DVD player, or something like Sky HD or a games console (e.g. PS3 / Xbox 360), one of the main advantages of an AV receiver over something like the Logitechs is getting true Dolby or DTS 5.1 - the Logitechs will simulate surround sound from stereo, but they don't have the correct inputs to give you true surround sound from a home cinema system - they're really designed for PCs.

If you don't have any sources but are looking to add Blu-ray, then an all-in-one is probably the way to go on your budget.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think you quite understand what you're after, a set of 5.1 surround speakers consists of 6 individual speakers, not a pair, the 5.1 refers to 5 main speakers and 1 subwoofer. With just two speakers you won't get surround, just stereo.

Sorry for the wrong term. I meant a set of 5.1 Speakers .

Yes the Pioneer ones would, however just a pair would sound a little weak as they're designed to work in conjuction with the matching subwoofer and being style speakers don't go very low down into the bass region by themselves.

Again, I'm sorry. I'm talking about the whole 5.1 set.

You need to decide on that last point really, otherwise it'll be difficult to suggest anything sensible. For £150 for speakers plus a receiver you might be better off buying an all-in-one solution, that way you get a blu-ray player thrown in as well (assuming you haven't got one already).

I think I would rather go with a receiver, because in my mind I think that if a Blu-ray player costs the same as a receiver then the receiver should sound better and I'm looking for sound quality mainly. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

If you could recommend a budget receiver so I could know at what price am I looking, I would be grateful.

Yes - the main question is what you're looking to connect into this new system. If it's just your TV, 5.1 probably isn't worth it since virtually all TV programmes are broadcast in stereo (though a few are now showing up on the Freeview HD channels.

Does this mean that most of the times the speakers in the back won't play anything?

At the moment it will be mostly for the TV, but in the future I plan to buy a gaming console.

 

[duaplex]

I think 150 is a little low to be spending on Speakers + AV. you need to realistically up your budget by about £100 and then you can get something like this

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/230751141913?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla

Thats the best thing for your budget and needs.

To answer your last question. Yes most TV stations are broadcast in stereo and that means the rears will not work, in that instance. However, your speakers (i.e. ones above) A) will out perform your TV speakers even in stereo. B) if you are using sky or virgin and have HD channels then all will come alive. C) If you are using a bluray player then 5.1 will kick in.

Hope that helps

 

[The_Lhc]

To answer your last question. Yes most TV stations are broadcast in stereo and that means the rears will not work, in that instance.

However most of them will benefit from the use of Dolby Pro-Logic II or the like, so the rears will get some use anyway.

 

[professorhat]

I think I would rather go with a receiver, because in my mind I think that if a Blu-ray player costs the same as a receiver then the receiver should sound better and I'm looking for sound quality mainly. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

If you could recommend a budget receiver so I could know at what price am I looking, I would be grateful.

If you're going to get Blu-ray in the future, then it makes sense to get one which can decode HD audio. Do you have / think you'll ever get a 3DTV? If so, it makes sense to also get a receiver which is compatible (i.e. it should be able to accept 3D signals from the Blu-ray player and pass them on to the TV). To do this, it requires the HDMI ports to be 1.4.

Fortunately, you can get something which will do this for very little money nowadays (compared to just a couple of years ago) - for example, this Onkyo TX-SR309 can do all of the above and is currently £150. Spend a bit more and you can get the Pioneer VSX-521 or the Sony STR-DH820 for just over £200. Add this to your speaker budget, and you're looking at roughly £350 to £450 for both bits of kit (so a Blu-ray player will be extra on top of this).

If this is all a bit pricey, that's when you could consider the all-in-one unit, like the Sony BDV-E380 or the Panasonic SC-BTT370 - either of these will give you Blu-ray, surround sound + amplifier all for around £300 (and both will have inputs to allow you to connect a games console at a later date). Naturally, you compromise on SQ and you give up some flexibility for this price.

Yes - the main question is what you're looking to connect into this new system. If it's just your TV, 5.1 probably isn't worth it since virtually all TV programmes are broadcast in stereo (though a few are now showing up on the Freeview HD channels.

Does this mean that most of the times the speakers in the back won't play anything?

At the moment it will be mostly for the TV, but in the future I plan to buy a gaming console.

Yes, most TV programmes will either just be from front two speakers, or you can set your amp into a Dolby Pro Logic mode, whereby it will feed some surround information to the rears through processing. It's not true surround sound though. If your gaming console is capable of surround sound (currently the PS3 and Xbox 360 are), then this will definitely benefit from this.

 

[duaplex]

To answer your last question. Yes most TV stations are broadcast in stereo and that means the rears will not work, in that instance.

However most of them will benefit from the use of Dolby Pro-Logic II or the like, so the rears will get some use anyway.

An excellent point, even more reason to have a good set up

 

[Anonymous]

About the 3DTV, I don't think I'll ever buy one, don't really understand the hype, and I am very happy with a TV that does 1080p.

Again I'm sorry for the confusion on the price (tired). I'm looking to spend around £150 on the speakers alone, and for the receiver I don't know, I was hoping for you guys to propose something.

Thanks for the recommendations so far. I've decided that I need a receiver and a set of 5.1 speakers, not an all-in-one-unit.

Also, are Pioneer S-HS100 the best speakers I could get at around £150?(Richer Sounds got them at £110)

 

[professorhat]

About the 3DTV, I don't think I'll ever buy one, don't really understand the hype, and I am very happy with a TV that does 1080p.

Again I'm sorry for the confusion on the price (tired). I'm looking to spend around £150 on the speakers alone, and for the receiver I don't know, I was hoping for you guys to propose something.

Well, it's up to you, but I'd still go for something in the region of £150 to £200 to get the HD audio decoding (i.e. Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio) - this future proofs you for Blu-ray and any future gaming systems which will likely use these codecs.

Also, are Pioneer S-HS100 the best speakers I could get at around £150?(Richer Sounds got them at £110)

Hard to say if they're the best, but they certainly look good for the price. Ideally though, I would phone a Richer Sounds near you and see if you can get an audition along with a few other packages and some suitable AV receivers in your budget so you can hear it all working before you decide. Remember, you'll need to budget in for some cables - you don't need to go mad for a budget system so don't get talked into spending more than £30 - £40 for the lot (i.e. about 10 - 15% of the total cost of the system at the very most).

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone, you've been a great help!

 

[Anonymous]

If you're going to get Blu-ray in the future, then it makes sense to get one which can decode HD audio. Do you have / think you'll ever get a 3DTV? If so, it makes sense to also get a receiver which is compatible (i.e. it should be able to accept 3D signals from the Blu-ray player and pass them on to the TV). To do this, it requires the HDMI ports to be 1.4.

Fortunately, you can get something which will do this for very little money nowadays (compared to just a couple of years ago) - for example, this Onkyo TX-SR309 can do all of the above and is currently £150. Spend a bit more and you can get the Pioneer VSX-521 or the Sony STR-DH820 for just over £200. Add this to your speaker budget, and you're looking at roughly £350 to £450 for both bits of kit (so a Blu-ray player will be extra on top of this).

If i could recommend a setup, for my bedroom i have the Onkyo TX-SR309 and the Boston Soundware XS and they are both brilliant and 6 months ago it cost me about £400 from richer sounds who were very helpful. The Onkyo sounds fantastic and has loads of features like radio and Usb connectivity for your Ipod or any other mp3 player you may own. I think this system would be more than enough for what your looking for and is a reasonable price, the Onkyo for the moment is futureproof too decoding all the main HD audio formats aswell as offering pro logic, Neo: 6 and pcm. Also HDMI 1.4 so will also support 3D. The Boston speakers are small and very stylish and sound fantastic.

so i think the Onkyo TX-SR309 and the Boston Soundware XS would be an ideal setup for you